Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 109299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
But that guy is off my property now, cruising into custody.
There are still too many people here though—Chris and Daveed, Haven and Wanda, Grandma and Vega—when I only want to be with the man holding me.
So I can tell him how I feel.
I’ve hardly had a chance to think about what it means that he’s still here. But he called me his girlfriend, and I can’t help but love that. Even so, I’m going to say my piece as soon as I get a second alone with him.
Grandma hugs me one more time, making sure I’m okay, then Haven clears her throat and says, “Everyone leave.”
I blink. Whoa. “Someone’s bossy.”
“Yes, that was the whole point of my coming here. Go and enjoy your midnight picnic,” she tells me.
Right, the picnic. I’d forgotten about that, but Chris and Daveed picked up the food in the maze that Hudson didn’t eat. I’m not hungry, though, so Haven thrusts the picnic basket at Grandma, and Banks says to me, “Your sister makes a good point. We should enjoy this.”
And I do want to be alone with him desperately, but still, I ask Haven, “What did you mean—why you’re here?”
But she waves me off and heads to Wanda’s car. Another switcheroo.
I don’t bother with the hostess thing and say good night. I just wave and head to the cottage with the man and the dog.
Banks keeps his arm around me the whole time, his fingers running along my arm like he can’t bear not to touch me.
When we reach the cottage, I say, “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“There’s something I want to tell you too,” he says, reaching for the doorknob.
“You go first,” we say in unison, then laugh.
He opens the door, holding it for my dog and me. I’m about to say I’m in love with you when my gaze lands on a sea of origami on the bed.
My hand flies to my mouth. “What is that?” I ask, breathless, full of wonder.
“It’s for you.” He sounds nervous but hopeful—the opposite of how he was thirty minutes ago in the maze when he was tough and terrifying.
I love all sides of him, including this tender, romantic one.
“I enlisted your sister’s help to keep you busy so I could do this,” he explains.
So that’s what Haven meant.
I walk slowly to the bed, in awe of the gorgeous array of pink, red, and white folded letters of the alphabet.
I pick up the first one. It’s the letter I. Then I read the others, neatly arranged on the bed.
I’m sorry.
I love you.
Let’s try again.
So simple. So…everything.
I can’t believe he professed his love to me in origami. Emotions swim up my chest, filling me with joy and happiness, with possibility and soul-deep love. I spin around, my throat tight as I say, “I love you too. So much.”
Banks crosses the room in a flash, lifts me in his arms, and holds me close. “I’m so glad you’re okay. When I saw that guy with his hands on you, all I could think was I can’t let him hurt the love of my life.”
The intensity of those words echoes like a loud, bright bell. “The love of your life?” I ask, looking back at him.
He sets me down, cups my cheeks, and nods earnestly. “When you know, you know.”
My smile is so wide, it can’t be contained. “I know too. I feel the same.”
He ropes his arms tighter around me and peppers me with kisses. “I can’t let you go. You’re worth it. You’re worth everything. I can’t put work in front of you. You’re what I want most in the world.”
My eyes shine with tears. “You’ve got me then.”
He pulls back and holds my face, his chocolate eyes filled with promise. “We’ll make this work. You’re worth it,” he repeats as if making sure I’ve heard him.
But I did. “We’re worth it, Banks. We are.”
He kisses me again, with an intensity that says he fears he almost lost me tonight. With a passion that says he doesn’t want to let go.
I don’t either.
I melt into his kisses. I glow under his touch. And I want all of him.
I pull him to the bed, the back of my knees hitting the edge of the mattress.
“Hold on,” he says, then sweeps the origami onto the floor.
“It’s a mess,” I shriek playfully.
“And I don’t care,” he says, then he peels off my clothes and lays me down. His clothes vanish next, and soon, he’s sinking inside me.
I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms around his shoulders, and I pull him close, deep inside me.
It’s different this time. It’s somehow even better. Once more, we come together in the cottage.
Only this time, we won’t be a secret in the morning.
After we wake the next day and shower, we get on our bikes and ride into town. We grab coffee together and hold hands as we walk along Main Street, a road so familiar I could close my eyes and still find every shop.